A writer's look at the quilting and quilt art community and anything else fabric.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Cancer. No Insurance.

While we work together to help a fellow fabric lover, let's give her a few words of encouragement. Please leave your good wishes as a comment on this blog. Anna will see them. Help comes in all forms -- even words. But read below how we can all help her beat cancer and pay her bill. (Note, if you don't want to jump through Google hoops to leave a message, just email me and I'll post it under anonymous with your name and website as the signature. derrolgoldsmith@bellsouth.net) -- Dawn

Can this really be happening to one of our artists?

Anna Millea, (shown in photo) a longtime Guild and Artful Home artist, is fighting breast cancer - again. The disease has returned aggressively and is now in her bones, requiring an extreme sixteen rounds of chemotherapy. She has no insurance, having been deemed uninsurable due to her "pre-existing condition." When we at The Guild/Artful Home learned of this we knew we needed to do something to try to help her through this situation.

What we have come up with is an event we are calling "Hearts for Anna", to which we hope you will contribute and donate a little bit of your time and talent. Artful Home will hold a 5-day online event, "Hearts for Anna", August 12-16, 2009 in which miniature artworks, no larger than 5" x 7", will be sold. The items will be sold first-come, first serve, with all items selling for $100 on Day 1, $75 on Days 2 - 4, and $50 on Day 5. All money will go to a fund that goes directly to Anna Millea to help pay for her medical bills.

Requirements for donated artwork: (Deadline: August 7)

Participation is open to all artists, both Artful Home members and non-members. The point is to get great participation, and thus give a greater hand to Anna.

The artwork can be in any medium, no larger than 5" x 7". Artists in all media are encouraged to participate and donate works.

The artwork should be one of a kind, though each artist participating can submit more than one piece.

All work should fall within the theme of "Hearts for Anna", however the artist chooses to interpret this.

One look at Anna's smile and the work she produces convinces that she lives life with a happy heart, lives joyously. And we need all of the joy and happiness we can pour into this sour old world, so lets help Anna back to good health so we can enjoy her smile -- and her art -- for years to come!!! -- Dawn

7 comments:

Dear Lisa, I wish to contribute something to the sale, however because I am moving to Canada, all my belongings are in boxes ready to load. I could make a paypal gift to help offset costs. Have you set up an account, or would mailing a cheque be better. I can still do that easily if you would respond with the address.

I know it is NOT therapeutic to be angry about your recurrence, so I shall be angry for you. Such a beautiful creative person should not have to repeat the ordeal of fighting this disease. On the other hand, looking at your work makes me happy and I suspect MAKING it makes you happy. All my best karma to you, Anna.Pamela Allenwww.pamelart.com

My heart is with you and I know, having been through chemo myself almost 9 years ago, how difficult -- and how worth the fight it is! Hugs for strength and I'm thinking all the best thoughts for you.love,Rayna

Pumpkin Art!

Sherry Rogers-Harrison has taken her ink pens and chose a new pallet -- a pumpkin. She suggests a faux pumpkin makes for a better canvas than the real deal. What are you creating this Halloween? Autumn art?

Graffiti art by Rayna Gillman

My urban pieces have been part of my work for a decade. I shoot graffiti photos wherever I go and I have include them in my pieces very often. This is my most recent piece, Broken Dreams, which is now hanging in Form not Function at the Carnegie Art Center. The text and images are graffiti photos I have taken in New York, Phildelphia, Paris, and London.

Tesselation Nation

Wow! Wow! Wow! Have you seen this blog? Tesselation Nation by Raymond Houston will inspire you and give you the tools to make your own tesselation patterned quilt! Definitely worth a visit or a bookmark to visit again and again!

A touch of beauty: Wallflowers

This seemed to fill a need. When I saw it I had to smile and then I had to share it with everyone! It is lovely and made by Diane Evans. Click on the photo to visit her blog. She entered this in the Online Bloggers Quilt Show

Helen Remick's YoYo Tricks!

A show of 16 of Helen's quilts is at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, 703 South 2nd Street, La Conner, WA. Quilts will be on display now through December 31. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Click on photo to go to the museum web site. Helen's class, New Yoyo Tricks, will be on November 8 from 10 to 2. It includes lunch and a private exhibit tour. Remick and students will make altered yoyos and explore their design possibilities. Cost for museum members is $55, for non-members $65. You can make reservations by calling the museum at 360-466-4288. Shown is YoYo 2 -- Trip Around the World.

Fish 'n Baskets Quilt

This is perhaps the most amazing quilt I've ever encountered and am happy to call it my own. Just recently discovered that my Great Grandmother pieced the top in around 1870.

Stairway to Cat Heaven -- WE FOUND IT!

We are in luck. A dear Subversive Stitcher -- Holly -- found a link to access the archived pattern. Click on the picture to go to the pattern link. THANKS HOLLY!!!! Obviously this is a favorite for several of you. I get at least two requests a week for this pattern.

Heart of a Tree....

Lorraine Roy created this piece in 2002 as part of a solo travelling exhibition inspired by rare an endangered tree species in the Canadian Carolinian zone of Ontario (where she was born and still lives). She writes, "This particular species, native Flowering Dogwood, is best known for its beautiful white spring blooms, but I portrayed in full red fall colour. Why? In my research on this tree, I discovered that the Native people used decoctions from its fruit as a heart medicine. The name Dogwood originates from its former name, Daggerwood... because its very hard, resilient trunk and branches were used in making daggers. Combine this with the plant's resplendent fall colour, in leaf and berry... and the love we all feel for this endangered species... and you have all the elements necessary for the heart motif connected by the 'coursing blood and veins' of the tree's roots."

Every Beat Has a History

Canadian artist Arlee Barr offers up an unusual 'heart' for this holiday season. I've included two photos, one is a closeup of her work. Click on the full size photo to visit her blog.

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Need a present for a special woman in your life?

A friend sent me this photo and I just had to share it with you. I have been thinking of giving scarves as gifts this Christmas. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But its a thought. :) I don't have a link or directions, but I bet you can figure it out! Of course other Subversive Stitchers suggested a Google search for 'boob scarves' and that opens the door to amazing and crazy crafts. One article pictures a variety of crafts gone wild. Just click on the photo

The Knitted Convenience

I adore underground stitchers -- subversive to the max!!! And these certainly qualify. See what they've done to public facilities (bathrooms) in Sydney!!

New Gadget: Followers

Blogger now offers a 'followers' option. People can publicly or privately sign up and be alerted to updates made to this site. Below are the buttons to click to sign up.

Followers

Longarm or hand quilting patterns

A variety of free patterns and more designed by Theo van der Heijden

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Podcasts

This website for the National Gallery of Art podcasts was recently mentioned at Quilting Arts and it looks fascinating -- lectures on all aspects of art. Maybe inspire the next of your own works.

Flour resist

Thanks to suggestions from my Playing with Paint experience, and excellent step by step directions from Bridget's Matchbook Blog, I spent a fun morning with a new resist (new to me) -- a flour resist that has turned out to be quite fun (and messy -- in a good way). It gave me a reason to get my old cake decorating tools out and just have fun. Click on the photo to get the directions.

Grand Gobbler Turkey

Looking for a fun Thanksgiving project that may get the kids and grownups thinking about what they're thankful for? Check out Sewing.org for this adorable project

Great teaching videos

Sharon Schamber's website/network has detailed videos for various techniques. One is free for February on using Piece-lique technique to sew a leaf. Great info for doing curved piecing and small areas

Crazy Quilters Alert

Check out this informative and nicely crafted site with information that will benefit not only crazy quilters

Have you heard of Zentangle?

A form of intuitive art (maybe a new form of doodling?)

What a great gallery of fabric art: Check out what's being done

Fiber Vision, a group of fabric artists are creating some vibrant and unusual and delightful art. This is one of today's ah-ha moments!

Best Breast

I couldn't resist. I have no self control. I saw this article and had to share it with everyone -- knitter or not I think you'll enjoy it. It's a contest, by the way -- knit your own breast.

Odd bits: Knit a chicken sweater (jumper)

Little Hen Rescue in Norwich, England rescues chickens from battery barns. I first heard about this group when they requested knitted jumpers for the featherless, stressed out birds. Click on the image to find out more about knitting for chickens and their efforts to save these birds.